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5 Reasons why a Video Resume is a DNA Test of the Job Applicant


  • A video resume lends unique consideration to each candidate and makes the recruitment process more individualistic, bringing out the uniqueness and diversity of human resource. The candidate can voluntarily or involuntarily showcase their X-Factor and add their personal touch to their resume, not becoming another brick in the wall. Unlike other personalisation-heavy, candidate-specific recruitment tools however, the video resume is quite convenient for the recruiter as well and is on the lighter side of effort for both parties. It is time and cost-effective, providing the best data-to-effort ratio of all subjective assessment devices.

    The use of video resumes lends credibility to both the recruiter and the candidate vouching for their forward-looking attitude and willingness to adopt the state-of-the-art.The video resume makes the job-seeker feel special and well-attended to, and is by all means a fair and just treatment of candidature. On the other hand, it affords an expanse of fluid information to the discerning employer who can access any desired points from the contiguous pool of data, as they wish, without making their selection criteria explicit to the participants. Thus, it enables a one-way transparency with respect to the employer and a one-way content flow valve with respect to the candidate. Put simply, a video resume lets the information flow from the candidate side only with no constraints beyond time and reasonable format specifics, while not necessarily giving away anything about the employer’s selection parameters.

    The use of a video resume constitutes an acknowledgement of the importance of a job-seeker’s free, creative expression. It lays emphasis on subjective and composite proficiencies and places its trust in the fact that talent and abilities might not always be apparent, manifest, discrete, and randomly accessible on demand.Here are the ways in which a Video Resume can serve as a spotlight for the candidate and a lucid probe for the recruiter :

    1. Provision of Voluntary Choice – With a video resume, a candidate can freely showcase their comprehensive potential including but not limited to all parameters traditionally tested by recruiters. The very inclusion of exclusion of an expected or unexpected point on part of the candidate can speak volumes about their priorities, decision-making, and economic managerial skills. Notwithstanding the recruiter’s initial outlook about whether they deemed it worthy or not to begin with, a candidate could showcase their “X-Factor” or exceptional abilities that set them apart from the competition and impress the former with their sheer innovation, creativity, or novelty.

    A video resume compresses information without compromising its integrity, resolution, coherence, or structure. It provides a dense yet effortlessly fluid way for a pan-personality conveyance of the job-seeker to the recruiter.By letting the candidate wisely choose his presentation and vesting in him the prerogative to expose his best self, employers can elicit the most relevant and decisive markers from the candidate.For the candidate, this freedom comes with accompanying self-responsibility, self-accountability, and post-decision satisfaction.

    2. Reflection of Initiative – A video resume can serve as a sort of preliminary filter for organisations that demand video resumes, whether as a requirement or an optional supplement. If a job role requires a video resume, non-sincere candidates are better identified and easily-filtered, for it is vastly more difficult to feign interest in the audio-visual mode than in the textual medium. Necessitating the video resume is a means of reducing your initial spam application load.

    Further, if a candidate chooses to provide a link to their video resume in the Resume file without it being asked for or with it being only an option, it reflects their seriousness and commitment to the particular job application and their fastidiousness as a professional, since they took the initiative to invest in a holistic innovation, entirely of their own volition. The video resume, on part of a candidate, is therefore a testament of their professionalism. The very choice of sending in a properly-drafted full-fledged video resume alone, notwithstanding its contents, indicates the applicant’s tech-savviness, future-savviness, and foresight.

    3. Subconscious Nonverbal Communication – In any videographed conversation or act of speech, a lot of different aspects of a person’s behaviour are palpable, affording vital clues about their psyche. To the trained eyes of a keen HR Manager, any subtle action that the candidate lets past uncaringly or even unbeknownst to them, could serve as a clear and crucial red flag. The ability to spot such red and green markers is not all too common but they can serve as accurate if not definitive criteria for elimination and selection, given our propensity to miss them. During any videographed monologue, the speaker lets slip a constant outpour of signals without realising, rendering them prone to presenting an unaltered, unretouched, bare picture of their true selves.

    In addition to obvious and subtle consciously-judged factors as content (including but not limited to ideas, word choice as in lexical range and collocation, and focus) and presentation (dressing, grooming, enunciation, camera placement, movement, etc.),these inadvertently-dropped indicators such as composure, ease and comfort level, bodily disposition, and consistency.They serve as cues giving away one’s true nature, regardless of their efforts at concealing or modifying it. Like all humans, recruiters have what we call a ‘gut-instinct’ too and a video resume can enable that elusive-to-place sixth sense to kick in during the selection process. Watching a candidate articulate animatedly facilitates the formation of a human-to-human connect and permits our in-built emotional perception to yield us green or red flags. While the exact nature and component-wise makeup of this instinctive mechanism is difficult to put and delineate, it is known that facial and bodily gesture recognition, tone and intonation perception, and subconscious analysis of aspiration patterns are major factors.

    4. Conveyance of priorities – Given the combination of the time limitation on the video resume and the freedom to pack any acts (that are cumulatively that long) in there, the mere choice very economical measure distribution what deem important. Since employers cap the duration of the video resume clip, typically at a minute or two for the preliminaries and perhaps a few more for further stages, what all the candidate chooses to pack within those preciously-rationed seconds are a strong representation of their beliefs, preferences, and priorities. The vital string of choices, the entire selection is a litmus test of their decision-making ability and their economic proficiency (as in the skill of management of scarce resources), two of the most fundamental managerial skills. A couple minute-long clip could be cluttered, chock-full of trivial details or be disproportionately loaded with one certain aspect, the lopsided focus indicating poor judgement and biased oversight on part of the creator. This helps the recruiter make a more genuinely and better-informed decision.For example, if in a video resume, a candidate chooses to devote 20 seconds to explaining one of their hobbies and 10 seconds to explaining their professional skillsets, the very apportionment speaks volumes about their understanding of the job role.

    5. Perception of Responsibility and Sincerity – A video resume is holistic and has multiple attributes which all serve as potential avenues for the candidate to likely make a slip. A minor negligence on part of the candidate could betray their pretence and give away their guise of feigned fastidiousness. There are too many factors to mind that help detect consistency and zero-in the genuine candidate since it is almost insurmountable to artificially reasonably patch up each of them. With so many aspects into the picture, minor choices matter, and it facilitates red-flag spotting, error-catching and elimination on part of the recruiter. The sheer multitude of parameters that constitute a video resume render the candidate prone to err on the fine print and thus indicate their negligence, laziness, or cavalier attitude over a small detail that they deem trivial. Given the general human propensity for overlooking some details when dealing with many, a candidate’s level of dedication, sincerity of interest, and prioritisation of endeavour can be ascertained by the recruiter through an extensive yet exact assessment rubric. Similarly, aspects such as lighting and camerawork, and to a lesser extent resolution and audio quality indicate that the candidate has put conscious effort into preparing their introduction.

    Thus, a video resume presents an in-depth, holistic, and candid sampling of a candidate’s personality, nature, and skillset and ensures genuine matches and hires.
  • July 10, 2021  by biofie content team
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